Left Brain, Right Brain

I have decided (although not unequivocally) to participate in NaNoWriMo next year. Maybe I should say, "I think that maybe I might like to consider participating in NaNoWriMo next year." Yeah, that's probably more accurate.

I just opened a Microsoft Word document and started freewriting to see how many words per page I could/would average. In about 15 minutes, I filled one page (single-space, Times New Roman, 12 pts, full justification) with 745 words. I did not add an extra carriage return between paragraphs - just a tab indent at the beginning of each one.

This means that if I kept a good pace, and I could write about 2.5 pages a day, I'd get nearly 56,000 words written in 30 days next November. Of course, I don't expect it would go that well. There would have to be an actual story involved, and those involve more time, effort, and thought. I'm sure I would have to expect to spend more than 35 minutes a day writing. Then again... that's why I'm thinking about it NOW! So I can start an outline, character sketches, all that other time-consuming stuff that I am allowed to do ahead of time. Then all I'd have to do in November would be to actually pull it all together and write like mad! And even if I can't accomplish exactly what these figures show, I still might win since all you need is 50,000 words!

Yeah, I gotta do this. Cool. And if not, there's always NaNoWriMo 2007.

I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that LJ is going to rollout TrackBack support by the end of December. Maybe just for paid members at first, but when the November News Wrap Up ends with "Stay tuned to news. We've got more exciting announcements coming for you in December!" ...well... I can't help but hope a little!!

This story is from the Fargo Forum newspaper, but it happened in Bismarck, North Dakota. Enjoy.

BISMARCK – An 84-year-old man trying to maneuver into a parking spot caused nearly $17,000 in damage to four vehicles, a pallet of manure bags and a local shopping center, police say.

Lt. Dan Donlin said John Martin of Bismarck was in the passenger seat of a parked vehicle Thursday afternoon waiting for his wife to return from a store, when he saw a parking spot closer to the building open up.

“He decided to try to move the vehicle up into that parking spot. He decided to remain in the passenger seat when he did so,” Donlin said.

When Martin went to step on the brake, he hit the gas pedal, Donlin said.

Martin’s vehicle hit two other parked vehicles and then a hair salon in the shopping center. One of the vehicles that was hit struck a pallet of manure bags in front of the building. The second vehicle that was hit struck a third vehicle.

No one was hurt. Martin was cited for care required, which carries a $70 fine, Donlin said.

Someone on my floor made popcorn yesterday and today. It smells all buttery and crap. I'm not pleased about this.

Some of you may remember that I worked for 3 years in a movie theater. Buttered popcorn is like GARBAGE that you SWIM through. You can't get the smell off of you. It is not "food" and it stops smelling very good after that amount of time.

( Wow - I have NO idea what this means! )

Ravens are my favorite birds. Well, them and crows. And jays and magpies. All the corvidae, really. The are so intelligent and playful and curious and fascinating. So I don't know what the point of this was, but I like that it said something about Ravens.

OK, here are those pix I took of the Liesel scarf in my office on Friday:

( Oooooh, pictures! )
I'm super happy with it so far, and it will look even nicer after blocking. My Mom's gonna lurve it.
^_^

This is a really good one.

Phony Theory, False Conflict

( Read more... )

I saw this meme quite a while ago but never really wanted to do one. I changed my mind today.
( Here are my results )

Hey smokers! (Actually I only know of one person on my F-list who smokes...)

Hey Smoker!! (You know who you are!) But this is good for anyone who sees this and smokes...

Today's a great day to start living better!